Phil Spencer Comments on PC Game Stores on Xbox

27.03.2024 - 13:25 / gamerant.com / Phil Spencer / Sarah Bond / Priye Rai

In another interesting revelation, Xbox head Phil Spencer has reportedly backed the arrival of third-party game stores on game consoles. This has led to Xbox fans anticipating the possible launch of game stores, like Steam, on Microsoft's console.

Recently, Spencer has been sharing his thoughts about the future of Xbox, attracting the interest of the community, including a potential tease as well as hypothetical ideas about what he would want in a possible Xbox handheld device. Now, he has shed light on what he thinks about having third-party stores on a console.

In an interview with Polygon, Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer revealed his wish to bring down the closed ecosystem of consoles and introduce third-party storefronts, such as Steam, Epic Games Store, and Itch.io, to such platforms. When asked if these stores could exist on Xbox consoles in the future, he said “Yes,” likely fueling excitement among fans. Further, he highlighted that getting to choose where a player buys their game from is an advantage PC gaming offers over console gaming. He said, “Nobody would blink twice if I said, ‘Hey, when you’re using a PC, you get to decide the type of experience you have.' There’s real value in that.” However, he also admitted that such a move would require tackling a lot of paperwork.

Spencer addressed how the long-running strategy of console makers, which involves subsidizing or selling the hardware at a loss to eventually recoup the money and profit via software sales from their own digital game storefronts, may no longer be reasonable. He added that the walls meant to lock people into consoles might motivate them to stay out. Moving on, he said that subsidizing has become “more challenging,” and console makers need to look at doing away with other platform limitations, in particular, the absence of third-party stores, to attract players’ attention. This particular freedom of storefront is also the USP of gaming PCs, such as handheld devices that include the likes of ASUS ROG Ally and Lenovo Legion Go.

Back in January, Xbox President Sarah Bond shared that the console giant was set to make an announcement on the hardware side of things later this year. Not long after, reports emerged of a new Xbox console developer kit making rounds in South Korea, adding more fuel to the flame of the rumored Xbox handheld console and a potential disc-less Xbox Series X.

Taking note of Xbox’s imminent announcements slated for the near future and exec Phil Spencer’s personal views on the state of console gaming, it is well within reason to think that accommodating Steam and Epic Games Store on Xbox may also be in the pipeline. In case that happens, it would mark the first time a third-party storefront is available on a